(VOD) Vodafone Group

"Verizon has told analysts it believes $100 billion is a fair price for Vodafone’s 45 percent stake in the biggest wireless company in the U.S., people familiar with the discussions said last month. Vodafone has dismissed the offer as too low, the people said.........."

I don't care what Verizon considers is a fair price! VOD has not put its stake up for sale (which would mean it has to entertain "fair prices"). VOD does not need to sell.......instead, VC is coming to VOD to buy its 45% share of VW. That means VC has to make an offer that is sufficiently attractive to VOD that it is prepared to part with its prize asset.

"Fair price" isn't even close to what they need to offer. Think "fair price" plus VOD's loss of VW's growth, plus incentive to VOD to do something it doesn't want or have to do, plus a very big cherry on top! Cash only please!

Of course, the big institutional investors, investment bankers etc would love a deal (and all of the subsequent acquisition activity that the cash causes) because it generates fees and justifies their place on this planet. That doesn't mean it is the right thing to do.

Guitarsolo - reluctant to sell unless made an offer I can't refuse.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-20/vodafone-100-billion-stirs-payout-deal-dreams-real-m-a.html

Vodafone Group Plc (VOD)’s investors have ideas for the $100 billion or more that the company stands to pocket for its stake in Verizon Wireless: first, a fat dividend -- then, deals.
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) has said it’s interested in buying out Vodafone’s 45 percent stake in their Verizon Wireless joint venture. The windfall would leave Newbury, England-based Vodafone with more cash than every other non-finance company after Apple Inc. (AAPL), according to data compiled by Bloomberg. With Vodafone set to report a drop in annual sales tomorrow amid heightened competition, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. said it could put some of that money toward acquisitions to help move into new markets and revive growth.
Enlarge image
After Vodafone lost more than half its value since Verizon Wireless began offering mobile services in 2000, shareholders say Vodafone’s priority should be to return a large amount to investors. Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
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After Vodafone lost more than half its value since Verizon Wireless began offering mobile services in 2000, shareholders such as Ignis Asset Management say Vodafone’s priority should be to return a large amount to investors. Even if Vodafone gave stockowners half of the at least $100 billion in proceeds, the carrier still will be left with $62 billion, including current cash. That would be enough firepower to buy Germany’s largest cable operator Kabel Deutschland Holding AG (KD8) and John Malone’s Liberty Global Inc. (LBTYA), KBC Asset Management said.
“What they should do is a dramatic rethink of the business,” Robin Bienenstock, a London-based analyst for Bernstein, said in a telephone interview. “You could pick which markets are vital to you. You could consider doing more stuff in other countries. It’s clear that they need to act in a slightly more radical way.”
Right Price
Simon Gordon, a spokesman for Vodafone, and Bob Varettoni, a spokesman for Verizon, declined to comment on plans for the Verizon Wireless partnership. Gordon also declined to comment on potential acquisitions.
Verizon has said it’s ready to end its joint venture with Vodafone for the right price. Verizon has told analysts it believes $100 billion is a fair price for Vodafone’s 45 percent stake in the biggest wireless company in the U.S., people familiar with the discussions said last month. Vodafone has dismissed the offer as too low, the people said.
Talk about a deal has been heating up as Verizon’s stock increased, giving Verizon the financial flexibility to buy out the stake. Verizon shares reached $53.91 on April 30, the highest level in 13 years.
Vodafone Woes
Vodafone, by comparison, has seen its market value drop by more than half to about 97 billion pounds ($147 billion) since Verizon Wireless debuted in 2000, and it’s struggling now to overcome shrinking sales in Europe, its biggest market. The company will probably report its first drop in annual revenue since 2005 tomorrow, according to the average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is also projected to decline.
“In the short term, it’s going to be the beginning of a difficult period for Vodafone,” Leon Cappaert, a money manager at KBC in Brussels, said in a phone interview.
Today, Vodafone shares rose 0.1 percent to 197.9 pence at 8:39 a.m. London time.
By letting Verizon buy out its stake in the venture, Vodafone could collect proceeds that, if paid in cash, would leave it with more cash on hand than any

If I had a house that I really rather liked, why would I ever want to sell it - unless someone came along and offered my much more than it was really worth and I knew I could buy something elsewhere that would be just as nice but cost less?

VW is a wonderful asset and is growing rapidly in a market that is far from saturation. It will be worth more in a 1, 2 or 5 years time than it is now. It will pay out lovely fat dividends in that time as well (VC needs them as much as VOD does).

Unless VC is prepared to pay way over the current value, I see no reason to sell the asset. VC may not like the fact that VOD owns 45% of VW, but tough, that's life.

VOD also owns 65% of Vodacom (a stake worth around $12bn I believe) but no one believes that has to be sold either.

VOD should say to VW that they want to maintain friendly management relations, help VW wherever it can, but its stake is not up for sale - not for anything under 150bn anyway.

(And if VW is generating circa $25bn a year profit, then VOD's share of that is $1bn a month! Hence why my price would have to increase by $1.5bn a month to account for the full ownership premium that VC should pay to own all of VW."

Not gonna happen I know.......but

Guitarsolo

http://tinyurl.com/n7v9sxu

Vodafone (VOD.L) has withdrawn from the running to provide a mobile service to fixed-line operator BT (BT.L), two industry sources told Reuters, bringing to an end a nine-year partnership.

Webcast states 9.30am tomorrow, I thought they usually announced at 7am?

Hope the bubble doesnt burst or deflates only slowly as sure this will be a waiting game. If VC does sensible things with the VW divi the SP should be ok but am sure investors want to hear much more. The market already knows what is happening and big investors have probably demanded a pre-briefing under non-disclosure?

Anyway I'm all in for this poker game, just hoping its not my last chance saloon and at the very least the divi increases by min 7%!!!

Well done uselessbaba, you have it in a nutshell.

Well the thing that bothers me, isn't that VOD may have bought things with ''overpriced paper'', but more the fact that they could be about to sell their own prize asset for somebody else's ''overpriced paper'' !
Just goes to highlight the risks involved in share based M+A, and if VOD accept $70/80Bn in VZ ''paper'', and then decides to return most of it to it's own shareholders in the form of a cash rebate/special divi, then it will have to dump all that ''paper'' onto the open market, and what effect is an overhang of that magnitude liable to have on its SP ?
Vittori needs to lay it out plain and simple, the price is $130Bn, cash money, no discussion !
UB.

"yes plonka but if vod were again to buy overpriced assets with shares at £2 and destroy value you would not be happy"

Not quite summed it up for me NM.

I don’t trust anyone with my money and holding shares is just a necessary evil (with a dash or two of fun). The minute I don’t like what they are doing is the minute I will be out with a healthy profit and a smile on my face.

If a VZW deal is done and VODs pockets are bulging then I may wait and see what they intend to do with my money. If I don’t like what I see then I won’t hang around.

I quite liked the CW deal so current management may be a bit more frugal than in the past.

Anyway, one click away from selling so we’ll see how it goes.

Plonka

Vodacom Profit Gains 23% as Smartphones Boost Data Revenue

Vodacom Group Ltd. (VOD), South Africa’s largest wireless operator, said full-year profit increased 23 percent as more of its customers bought smartphones, driving data service use amid a decline in its largest voice market.

Earnings per share after one-time items rose to 8.72 rand in the 12 months through March from 7.09 rand a year earlier, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement today. That compares with the range of 8.51 rand to 8.86 rand forecast by the company on April 24.

“Mobile data is our single biggest growth opportunity with smartphone and tablet penetration at low levels in all our markets,” the company said in the statement. “We are focused on increasing the penetration of data and financial services, and are also actively looking to enter new markets elsewhere in Africa.”

Vodacom, which is 65 percent-owned by Vodafone Group Plc (VOD), said it would pay a total dividend of 7.85 rand, an increase of 11 percent on last year. The company is becoming increasingly important for its Newbury, England-based parent as Vodafone struggles to halt a slide in its European business. Vodacom surpassed Vodafone’s U.K. unit in terms of profit in 2010, and outpaced the Spanish division the following year.

Smartphone Demand

Vodacom shares gained 0.9 percent to 115.82 rand on May 17, valuing the company at 172.3 billion rand ($18.3 billion). The stock has declined 6.6 percent this year, compared with a 5.5 percent increase on FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index.

Vodacom expanded its data services revenue by 22 percent to 10 billion rand, with increased demand for smartphones driving sales. Its customer base rose to 51.7 million from 47.8 million a year earlier, as the company added more than two million customers in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Revenue in South Africa, its largest market, grew 2.9 percent to 58.6 billion rand on improved sales of smartphones and tablets. Its domestic voice revenue fell 0.8 percent to 29.2 billion rand while mobile messaging retreated 3.7 percent to 3 billion rand.

“In South Africa, poor performance among independent service providers, persistent economic weakness and on-going cuts in mobile termination rates hampered service revenue growth,” Chief Executive Officer Shameel Joosub said in the statement.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-20/vodacom-profit-rises-23-percent-as-data-service-revenue-gained.html?cmpid=yhoo

I notice VOD is currently advertising mobile phones/service in Germany, a place hardly in recession. It's a smart phone/MS/VOD combination. Shortly they will be doing Broadand there too. Sound OK to me. Also surely VOD were paying divis whilst VZ where withholding theirs? They don't seem to have been dependent on VZ for many years for dividends.

plonka: I think the point is the comparative price. If VOD bought overpriced assets with overpriced paper then comparatively speaking its 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. So yes that makes it ok.

Astonishing comment. Sounds to me like the economics of the mad house. Besides some purchases were made not with paper but with hard cash.

I know vod pays a divi but for how long at this rate,India is 10% of VODs trade and is it really bringing value to VOD? and no I don't there is a lot of competition and as for recovery ? I don't think things will ever be the same for vodafone if they Sold VW

so it's march 2013 and the ceo of verizon com is in a conferance call
"would you like full control of vw ?" shouts a likely lad
yes I sure would he says

that is about it I cannot find any more facts on this matter all the rest is bull caca "a source close to etc vod and vc consult bankers wow something they do every day
perhaps someone can find a real quote from vod or vc about a sale bid etc

cheers ng

Vodafone urged to act on Verizon

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/10066129/Vodafone-urged-to-act-on-Verizon.html

"Peanuts! That's what it will be worth with no VW divi and diminishing euro business the divi will also be less so will the SP it's not rocket science" nodammmoney

Both short-sighted and inaccurate IMHO.

VOD pays its divi irrespective of VW (hence the specials) and whilst its true that Europe is depressed - diminishing?? - you don't believe that there will ever be a recovery ? Markets don't agree with that - indexes booming in most places. Finally, you don't place much value on the emerging market scene - India, Turkey, Africa et al ?? 150m subscribers in India alone today. Not much potential there then.

Reality is that VW is definitely the icing on the cake, but a long way from being the whole cake.

yes plonka but if vod were again to buy overpriced assets with shares at £2 and destroy value you would not be happy

The best thing for VOD would be to keep it's stake in VW, Verizon is growing its market every day so why sell VODs share of it? It's a cash cow the one thing vodafone got right and it's being urged to sell it and with the euro zone the way it is for now in my eyes it's a no sale

Peanuts! That's what it will be worth with no VW divi and diminishing euro business the divi will also be less so will the SP it's not rocket science

I think the point is the comparative price. If VOD bought overpriced assets with overpriced paper then comparatively speaking its 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. So yes that makes it ok.

.. and that makes it all right to over pay then?

"Vodafone has a history of spending huge sums on assets and then writing them down"----Yes but much of these assets were bought by share swaps when Vod shares were 4 quid etc.

Which Way Will Vodafone Go for Growth?

Next Tuesday, Vodafone (NASDAQ: VOD ) will release its latest financial results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise.

Vodafone has an extensive worldwide network of telecom services that covers countries across the globe. But the asset that has gotten the most attention lately has been the 45% stake it has in the Verizon Wireless joint venture with Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ ) . Let's take an early look at what's been happening with Vodafone recently and what we're likely to see in its report.

How can Vodafone keep earnings growing?
In recent months, analysts have very modestly marked down their views on Vodafone's earnings, cutting $0.01 from their fiscal 2013 estimates and $0.03 from their consensus on fiscal 2014. The stock, though, has done well, rising about 11% since mid-February.

The big news for Vodafone over the past several months has come from speculation that Verizon will make a massive offer to buy out Vodafone's 45% stake in Verizon Wireless. Yet many recent reports suggest that the companies are far apart in valuing the stake, with a $30 billion gap between what Verizon is likely to offer and what Vodafone sees as a fair valuation. Moreover, high-profile Vodafone investors would prefer to see a deal that provides for the purchase of the entire company rather than simply cherry-picking its most lucrative asset. That would likely require a joint effort from AT&T (NYSE: T ) , which might be more interested than Verizon in Vodafone's international assets. AT&T has been looking for ways to boost its growth, but with the U.S. market nearly saturated, overseas prospects appear more promising as a place for expansion.

The problem with getting rid of Verizon Wireless, though, is that it has provided huge amounts of cash flow to Vodafone lately. Just earlier this week, the joint venture agreed to distribute $7 billion to its owners, sending $3.15 billion Vodafone's way. A big one-time payoff would simply present Vodafone with the challenge of how to put all that money to work.

But Vodafone hasn't given up on its other businesses. Yesterday, the company announced an agreement with Deutsche Telekom that will let Vodafone offer high-speed Internet and video services in Germany. Even as Europe has struggled, it remains a potential growth market if the eurozone can get past its economic crisis and recover. In addition, emerging markets have remained a lucrative source of potential growth, although even there, slowdowns in India and South Africa have hampered progress.

In Vodafone's report, watch closely for signs of any progress in dealing with Verizon. With all eyes focused squarely on an eventual deal, Vodafone will have trouble moving past the issue until it's resolved once and for all.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/05/17/which-way-will-vodafone-go-for-growth.aspx

All eyes on Vodafone's Colao for signs on Verizon

(Reuters) - After months of speculation, Vodafone's (VOD.L) Vittorio Colao will be under pressure next week to set out whether he may sell its prized stake in Verizon Wireless in what would be one of the biggest deals ever.

Chief executive for five years, Colao has said only that he has an "open mind" on Vodafone's 45-percent stake in the U.S. operator, whose majority owner, Verizon Communications (VZ.N), is interested in buying out the British company's share.

With a possible asking price around $120 billion, the topic may well dominate Vodafone's annual results presentation on Tuesday, highlighting the pressures on profits elsewhere in the company and the dilemma faced by its Italian CEO.

A source familiar with the situation surrounding a possible bid for the stake by Verizon Communications said: "All their eyes are on May 21 Vodafone earnings, and what Vodafone will say about Verizon Wireless,"

Analysts are expecting Vodafone to post organic service revenue in the fourth quarter down 4.3 percent, the worst fall in its main sales measurement since the company started using that metric in 2003.

Analysts are also expecting the group to forecast a fall in free cash flow for the next financial year, to March 2014, due to increasing investment needs and the continuing torrid conditions in some of Vodafone's biggest European markets.

But the sharp fall in fourth quarter group organic service revenue, after a fall of 2.6 percent in the third quarter, is seen as the likely low point for the firm, due to a peak in regulatory cuts and the timing of a leap year last year.

"This free cash flow guidance is lower than prior guidance ... reflecting rising investment needs and greater macro pressures; however, this is already anticipated by consensus," Goldman Sachs said in a note to clients.

EUROPEAN TROUBLES

Vodafone has been hit hard by recession in southern European markets like Spain and Italy, where customers are cutting back on using phones, resulting in double-digit quarterly declines.

In the past year, its British and German markets have also turned negative due to competition and even the operations in emerging markets such as India have posted slowing growth.

The pressures on the business, compounded by regulatory cuts to how mobile operators charge each other for connecting calls, have helped complicate Vodafone's calculations on whether finally to sell out of Verizon Wireless.

The largest mobile operator in the United States, is growing at a rapid rate and throwing off cash to its two parents. But Vodafone dislikes not having control of assets and Verizon has stepped up the pressure in recent months for it to sell.

Two people familiar with the situation have told Reuters that Verizon is preparing a possible $100-billion bid to take control of the unit, although that is seen by analysts and investors as merely a starting point in the negotiations.

The consensus among Vodafone analysts is that the stake would need to be sold for around $120 billion or more to compensate for the loss of earnings.

Overall, Vodafone is expected to post full-year revenue down 4.4 percent to 44 billion pounds ($67 billion) according to the consensus. Group core earnings are forecast to be down 9 percent at 13.2 billion pounds.

The group will also have to set out what it will do with its dividend and what it plans to do with the $3.15-billion payout it will receive from Verizon Wireless in June, after the company announced the dividend last week.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/05/17/us-vodafone-results-idUKBRE94G0Q520130517?type=companyNews

When management report the results and performance of their company based on EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization), you know they are hiding something. In the case of Vodafone, they hide the annual multi-billion pound impairments for assets they bought at vastly inflated prices. In just the last 4 years, Vodafone has written down its assets by 18.2 billion pounds in addition to over 30 billion in depreciation. After tax profits, for those same years, amount to 26.7 billion pounds. And 18.9 billion of that is not even managed by Vodafone - it comes from the company's associates, principally from its 45% share of Verizon Wireless.

Verizon Wireless is Vodafone's one outstanding success as an investor. In 1999, Vodafone reached an agreement with Bell Atlantic (now Verizon Communication) to establish a joint wireless business to serve the United States. Wireless is now the biggest mobile phone operator in America. Verizon holds 55% and Vodafone 45% of Wireless's equity. Management control is firmly in the hands of Verizon.

The marriage, despite its commercial success, has not been an easy one. Just a year into the marriage and it was rumoured that Vodafone wanted to buy out Verizon's share in Wireless. That same year, Wireless announced it would use a technology that would not be compatible with Vodafone's, though the pair made up the squabble. In 2004, Vodafone said that as both partners wanted all of Wireless, they were at an impasse. In 2005 Verizon retaliated by blocking dividend payments from Wireless, believing that this would force Vodafone into a divorce. This unhappy state of affairs lasted for 6 years. In 2012, Verizon needed Wireless's dividend as much as Vodafone and the cash began to flow. But Verizon still wants to divorce Vodafone. It is dangling $100 billion under Vodafone's nose. The shares have jumped:

What would Vodafone be worth without its share in Wireless?

Making sense of Vodafone's profitability is a Herculean task. Working through the thicket of accounting adjustments, I have made some heroic assumptions about the notional profitability of Vodafone without Wireless. The following excludes impairment charges, profit and loss on the sale of assets and foreign exchange translation gains and losses. To remove legacy items, I have used actual capital expenditure to replace the significantly higher depreciation and amortization charges each year.

Wireless is carried at 35 billion pounds in Vodafone's balance sheet and the notional return on equity, once Wireless is removed, is 10%. Net debt is a manageable 27 billion pounds, or 35% of equity.

70% of Vodafone's revenue is from Europe and revenues are stagnating. The only market that is currently growing is India, which accounts for less than 10% of revenue. Although earnings are static these last 4 years, it is reasonable to assume that earnings could grow at about the rate of inflation, say 3% annually. I have used a discount rate of 10.8%. On this basis, my valuation model values Vodafone without Wireless at 67p a share. At this price, Vodafone would be on a notional PE of 8 and yield 6.2%.

$100 billion net proceeds for the sale of Wireless translate to 133p a share, giving a combined value of 200p. This compares to Vodafone's current share price of 191p.

There are significant uncertainties:

1. The potential tax bill on the sale of Vodafone's share in Wireless is variously estimated at 30 billion pounds (Societé General) to $5 billion (Citibank), were Verizon to pay $100 billion for the shares of Wireless.

2. Vodafone has a history of spending huge sums on assets and then writing them down. What is to stop Vodafone's management from throwing away a sizeable part of the proceeds from a Wireless sale on overpriced assets? This would greatly reduce the value of the Wireless sale to Vodafone's shareholders.

3. Vodafone and Wireless combine their purchasing power to reduce costs. The impact of a break

Just short of 199p early on then went down hill despite market rallying.

Shame.
Rick

17 May Vodafone Group PLC Goldman Sachs Buy 197.73 Old Target Price 220.00 New Target Price 230.00



http://capita.moneyam.com/broker-views/VOD/Vodafone-Group

What’s Einhorn Buying?

In the first quarter 2013, David Einhorn’s long position in Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD) was really a winner. Since the middle of February, Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD) has moved up significantly, from $25 per share to more than $30 per share. Previously, Einhorn discussed that the market had undervalued Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD)’s share price because its valuable 45% stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) was not popularly recognized.

Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD)’s share price shot up when Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) stepped up and showed its interest in acquiring the remaining 45% stake of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) from Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD)that it didn’t own. With more than 98 million retail connections, Verizon Wireless is the biggest wireless service provider in the U.S. In 2012, Verizon Wireless generated nearly $30 billion in EBITDA, thus, a 45% stake would be equivalent to nearly $13.4 billion in EBITDA. If an EV multiple of 9 was applied to Verizon Wireless’ valuation, Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD)’s 45% stake would be valued at more than $120 billion.

At first, Verizon Communications thought of a $100 billion price tag. However, according to Reuters, some of Verizon Communications’ shareholders agreed on Verizon Communications offer of up to $130 billion for Vodafone’s 45% stake in Verizon Wireless. Craig Leopold, a portfolio manager at Columbia Management Investment advisors commented: “No way do I dream that $100 billion is going to get this deal done. It's just not going to happen.”

Vodafone is trading at around $30 per share with a total market cap of around $148 billion. Thus, at $120 billion valuation, its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless accounted for more than 81% of its total market cap. David Einhorn wrote in his letter: “We believe that a premium sale followed by a successful return and/or redeployment of the proceeds could unlock substantial value latent in VOD stock. VOD without Verizon Wireless might also become a good acquisition target for AT&T.”

My Foolish take

Personally, I think both Vodafone and Oil States should be considered opportunistic stocks on corporate changes for shareholders. The sale of Verizon Wireless and the REIT conversion for the Accommodations segment for Oil States would potentially unlock the hidden value of Vodafone and Oil States, respectively. However, investors need to be quite patient as the timing is quite uncertain.

http://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/simon-property-group-inc-spg-vodafone-group-plc-adr-vod-whats-einhorn-buying-144058/?singlepage=1

Thank you for the useful clarification and reasoned points Bill. 250p would be rather handy for my retirement funding. Suspect patience and steady nerves are required for a while yet, although if VC can deliver a golden egg next week, he will do just that.

"Divi cover needs to be improved, the ratio is pretty dire right now, this would do the trick. "

Reader - I wouldn't say dire. Will be down to around 1.5x in the year to be reported... a bit below the market average, but for a business with VOD's cash generation profile? Arguably nearer optimal than dire!

And you have to consider VOD's comparatively VERY high (non-cash) depreciation and amortisation charges. Cover on a cash earnings basis is ABOVE market-average, and perfectly healthy IMHO.

"I am not sure VC will open his mouth too much on VW, would that depress the sp?"

He will be pressed on this from all sides... the Q&A and interviews will be interested in little else. He will know this, and will already have a script prepared. Then again, he is well-ahead on points in the battle of wits with VZC largely by keeping his mouth shut, so possibly we don't want him to say too much?!

We have held the 195p level for long enough, would be surprised if we did NOT hit 200p, either today or next week. The bigger question is... when do we reach the 250p level? And how?!

I don't think it will unless something comes out from the US when it opens later today. I kind of feel 200p is a barrier that VOD will struggle to breach until its fundamentals improve. As long as Europe continues to under perform and until developing investments show sustained improvements, I feel 200p may be difficult to achieve. I am hoping I am wrong, however, if VZ comes out with a positive statement the price could shoot up towards 240p/250p, a negative one and 160p/170p could be on the cards. I believe its more likely to be positive from VZ, but it wont be for a few months yet, IMO. Good one, DS

Do you think this will hit 200 today?

Perhaps the safest play would be to increase divi and also to buyback using VW divi. Self funding and ploughs money back into the company. Divi cover needs to be improved, the ratio is pretty dire right now, this would do the trick.

I am not sure VC will open his mouth too much on VW, would that depress the sp? I am hoping to break the 2 quid barrier and with a 5%plus divi its so much better than cash in a bank.

"But we should be seeing a rise in the dividend of around 9%, to take it to a yield of about 5.3% on today's share price of 197p."

They have already committed to a 7% increase, so we will get that at least. Anything more would be a statement of confidence... and, probably, at least one finger raised in the direction of Oklahoma!

A slightly bigger increase could be justified by the latest VW dividend, and possibly means that at least some of it will be spent on further buy-backs, to reduce the overall cash cost of the base dividend.

But, whether they like it or not, the results will play second fiddle to any associated commentary on the future of the VW stake.

OMG was it that long ago, well, history does have a bizarre way of repeating itself. I wonder how much of todays price has the VZ effect going on. I would guess after approx 12years, Vodafone itself must be pleased to see its price on the verge of 200p, but will it get there, not sure, would be nice, but happy with the dividend. BTW, with all the VZ speculation, it seems very little is coming out about the CWW enterprise. Its interesting that news surrounding Vod is of little significance whilst the VZ saga rolls on. DS

Vodafone Group (LSE: VOD) (NASDAQ: VOD.US) will release full-year results on Tuesday 21st. Recent forecasts suggest earnings of around 15p per share, which would be pretty much flat compared to last year's adjusted figure of 14.91p. But we should be seeing a rise in the dividend of around 9%, to take it to a yield of about 5.3% on today's share price of 197p.

But the main item on the Vodafone agenda at the moment is its relationship with Verizon Communications over its 45% share of Verizon Wireless. Will the two telecoms giants merge? Will Vodafone sell its Verizon Wireless stake? Will we learn more on Tuesday?

One thing we will learn is what Vodafone intends to do with its £2.1bn dividend from Verizon Wireless. It was announced on Tuesday, and Vodafone said it will reveal its plans on results day.

http://www.fool.co.uk/news/investing/2013/05/17/3-ftse-100-shares-for-the-week-ahead-vodafone-grou.aspx

Some time in 2001.... when VOD was on the way down from an all time Y2K dotcom bubble market high.

Let's hope history doesn't repeat itself with a QE bubble.

I cant remember the last time my VOD holding sat at 200p in my account, but its close this morning, very close! Happy days, DS

Vodafone intends to hold the purchased shares in treasury.

Since 10 December 2012, Vodafone has purchased 378,400,720 shares at a cost (including dealing and associated costs) of £655,914,487.

Following the above transaction, Vodafone holds 5,003,532,807 of its ordinary shares in treasury and has 48,817,007,852 ordinary shares in issue (excluding treasury shares).


http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:VOD.L&display=news&it=le

closed at 15220 £114 pft

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